VOLLEYBALL: Blue hosts Green, Crimson

The Yale volleyball team (14-2, 4-1 Ivy) looks to continue its winning ways this weekend against Dartmouth (7-9, 3-3) and Harvard (7-10, 3-3). After two big road wins at Cornell and Columbia last weekend, the Bulldogs return to their home turf at the John J. Lee Amphitheater to continue Ivy League play.

The Bulldogs will host the Big Green on Friday. Dartmouth enters the weekend having lost three straight matches and has also lost the last three meetings with Yale.

On Saturday, Yale’s biggest rival, Harvard, comes to town. Yale currently has a 10-match winning streak against the Crimson, and Bulldog head coach Erin Appleman has a 11-2 career record against the Cantabs in her time at Yale. The Crimson, traveling from a match at Brown on Friday night, will look to buck the trend.

The Big Green and the Crimson are heavy underdogs given the Bulldogs’ recent play.

Libero Kelly Ozurovich ’11, who is 10th on the Yale all-time digs list, leads the Ivy League and ranks fourth in all of Division I with 5.69 digs per set this season. Outside hitter Cat Dailey ’10, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, leads the Ivy League in kills with 4.28 per set, including 4.44 kills per set in Ivy League competition.

Additionally, opposite hitter Bridget Hearst ’12, who earned a record 27 kills against Columbia, was recognized this week as a member of the Ivy League Honor Roll, while setter Kerry Clavadetscher ’13 was recognized as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second time in three weeks after averaging 12.86 assists per set last weekend.

Yale currently leads the Ivy League in digs (18.65 per set), blocks (2.31 per set) and opponent hitting percentage (.129).

While the Bulldogs look to capture two more crucial wins in Ivy League competition, they are aware of what looms in the near future.